Creative Residency, Operations style

When you incubate business imagination and change, you have to get out of your comfort zone and try some things on yourselves.

Sometimes that is hard. Other times it is not. This creative challenge is for us to send me, the Operations Officer, on an artists’ residency in Girona, Spain.

This photo is the beginning of Day 2. You can just about make out the snowcapped Pyrenees in the background. This is not hard.

The actual challenge is twofold. Operations Officer, who is also a creative in fairness, has to do some writing. But also, we are testing remote working structures – having a partner, central to running Reluctantly Brave, participating in the day-to-day running of the business for 2 weeks from Spain.

Many organisations need to consider remote working to promote productivity, creativity and employee welfare. It also saves significant costs compared to, say, paying for yet more London office space.

We admire organisations like the Belgian Federal Social Security Service. Yes, you read correctly. They are way more creative with their working practices than the vast majority of companies, even in the “creative industries.” No one is obliged to be in the office – you can work from wherever you want. So long as you Get Your Shit Done.

But what’s the reality of that like? We have a weekly practice of allowing employees to work a day “off shore” (as we call it). But what about a whole week? Or, in this case, two? And really off shore?

As with most things, we’re using ourselves as guinea pigs. Stay tuned for some creative learnings, operations-style.